[PHNOM PENH POST]
Foreign tourist arrivals in the Kingdom increased by more than 15 per
cent between January and October compared to the same period in 2010,
Ministry of Tourism data showed.
Officials attributed the arrival
of 2.3 million foriegn visitors during the first 10 months of the year
to the increasing popularity of seaside and mountain locations alongside
Cambodia’s traditional attractions such as Angkor Wat. Some 2.1 million
came to Cambodia in 2010, according to ministry data.
“We will
see the current 15 per cent increase maintained until the end of the
year, with 2.8 million [foreign] visitors coming,” Kong Sophearak,
director of the Ministry of Tourism Department of Statistics and Tourism
Information, said yesterday.
Cambodian coastal sites will begin
to play a more important role in attracting guests from abroad, Kong
Sophearak said, adding that the Kingdom’s 440-kilometre shore last
spring was included in the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays of the World.
Borkor
Mountain National Park in Kampot province is also drawing more
tourists, the minister said, although Angkor Wat still remains
Cambodia’s number one foreign tourist destination.
Continued
increases in the sector – driven by the relative low price of travel in
Cambodia compared to neigbouring countries – has made the Kingdom’s
industry the fastest growing in ASEAN, according to Ho Vandy, co-chair
of the Tourism Working Group, part of the Government-Private Sector
Forum. He cited recent tourism seminars as the sources of the
information.
More than 400 tourism companies now operate in
Cambodia, Ho Vandy said. A majority of the firms, however, are not
registered with the Cambodia Association of Travel Agents.
This is welcome news for the people of Cambodia. Tourism is very important in boosting the economy by providing new jobs and generating cash flow to the country.
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